The Relationship Between Wrestling, Television and American Culture

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Relationship Between Wrestling, Television and American Culture W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 2001 The Squared Circle and that Household Box: The Relationship between Wrestling, Television and American Culture Brian Stewart College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons, and the Mass Communication Commons Recommended Citation Stewart, Brian, "The Squared Circle and that Household Box: The Relationship between Wrestling, Television and American Culture" (2001). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539626288. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-ac4d-fy14 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Squared Circle and That Household Box: The Relationship Between Wrestling, Television and American Culture A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of American Studies In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Brian Stewart 2001 APPROVAL SHEET This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Author Approved, May 2001 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT I. HOW I GOT INTO THIS MESS AND THE MESS ITSELF: AN INTODUCTION II. TRADITIONAL WRESTLING: THE WAY THINGS WERE III. CONTEMPORARY WRESTLING: THE LENGTHS TO WHICH SOME PEOPLE WILL GO TO ESCAPE A CAGE IV. THE PHONE, THE MAT AND THE TV; OR THE REASON FOR THE CHANGE V. CONCLUSION: FROM THE SO FAR TO THE SO WHAT BIBIOLOGRAPHY ABSTRACT This thesis is meant to update and expand scholarship in the field of professional wrestling. All previous scholarship in this realm has centered itself on the theory-often attributed originally to Roland Barthes-that professional wresting is a dramatic portrayal of good vs. evil, wherein the combatants take on opposing moral valences and then pantomime a physical encounter, the underlying purpose of which is to engage, and finally uphold, the audience’s preconceived notions of good and evil. In recent years, though, this model of professional wrestling has become inapplicable. By using previous scholarship, this thesis discovers the basic assumptions and narrative conventions necessary for old theories of professional wresting to be functional, then, through explications of recent matches and current fan literature, shows how these properties are no longer in use. Instead of a morality play, this thesis shows that contemporary wrestling is an entertainment, concerned with spectacle and not good and evil. Furthermore, this thesis shows that a primary cause for the shift in wrestling’s thematic dynamics is the rise of televised competition between the two major wrestling federations, the WWF and the WCW. Finally, this thesis touches on scholarship in the field of television, generally locating wrestling’s place within the wider culture and suggesting how its study may further the study in other areas dealing with television and culture. iv The Squared Circle and That Household Box: The Relationship Between Wrestling, Television and American Culture 1. How I Got Into This Mess and The Mess Itself: An Introduction In 1956, my great-grandparents shared a two flat brownstone on Chicago’s North side with their daughter, my grandmother, and her family. At that time, the older couple did not own a television set, and by all accounts found very little use for one. My great-grandpa amused himself with a pipe and racing form while great grandma spent her idle time listening to the radio or humiliating various family members in backgammon. When my grandmother and her family bought their first TV in the early fifties, her parents treated it as little more then a curiosity, indulging themselves mostly in the old fashioned diversions they had always enjoyed. On certain nights, though, great-grandma, then in her fifties, would creep down to her daughter’s apartment, turn on the newfangled toy, and watch professional wrestling. Given great grandma’s generally gentle demeanor, the appeal of this program baffled her family. Still, there she would sit, alone on the couch, squinting at a nine inch, black and white television and working herself into what grandpa has described as a “hilarious frenzy” watching the exploits of Gorgeous George and the other prominent wrestlers of the day. She enjoyed the show with so much vigor that occasionally the yelps of encouragement she offered the men on screen became so loud they would wake my then nine-year-old mother two rooms away. When the show had ended, great-grandma would calmly shut off the TV and, being of an overwhelmingly courteous and polite nature, carefully tip-toe back up to her own apartment so as not to disturb anyone. About the time my great-grandma was whooping in her daughter’s living room, the French semiologist Roland Barthes was writing his classic essay on professional wrestling, entitled, simply, “The World of Wrestling.”1 His work dealt with the live version of the activity that was then popular in the “second rate halls” of Paris. Its general purpose was to dissect the 2 3 peculiar popularity of this spectacle. His understanding placed wrestling well within the scope of my great grandmother’s tastes. Besides the appeal of half naked men throwing themselves around the ring, which perhaps should not be underestimated, Barthes would postulate that the wrestling match fulfilled a mythological script for her, giving her an event ripe with themes of justice and moral truth. At the center of Barthes’ observations lies the claim that wrestling is a drama. Unlike a sporting event, which derives much of its appeal from the uncertainty of the outcome, a wrestling match, he says, is obviously scripted, and even more then that, the script is thoroughly predictable. For Barthes, wrestling’s central narrative dramatized a moral struggle. As he said, “wrestlers remain.. .the key which opens Nature, the pure gesture which separates Good from Evil, and unveils the form of a Justice which is at last intelligible.”2 The event, he says, therefore represented a cathartic experience for the audience. That is, Justice and Good were perhaps unreachable ideals in the real world of the spectators, but, in Barthes’ perception, within the confines of the wrestling match, they were nothing less then expected. The spectators then could experience in the auditorium what they could not in their everyday lives, and the event offered a chance to witness, and cheer for, high ideals that might not otherwise clearly manifest themselves. The same morality play that Barthes described in his slim, frankly interpretive, even speculative, essay was also described as occurring in America, and continued to be observed into the mid-1990’s. Outside observers during this time-the social critics and academics interested in the pro wrestling phenomenon-unanimously depict a narrative centered on a paradigm of good vs. evil in keeping with the Barthes’ contention. In 1972, scholars Gerald Craven and Richard Mosely, drawing their conclusions from their own watching of matches, wrote that wrestling fans witnessed “the eternal conflict of good versus evil personified in the physical struggle for 1 Roland Barthes. Mythologies, trans. Annette Lavers (New York: Hill and Wang, 1972): 15-26 2 Ibid., 26 4 dominance by actors on a canvas stage.”3 In 1985, Gerald Morton and George O’Brien, also speaking from their own observations of the event, found that it was an “exaggerated morality play.”4 Even those closely connected with the event saw morality as wrestling’s central driving force as when, in 1954, A1 Mayer, editor ofWrestling World magazine, said, “what the new wrestling public is interested in is villainy as villainy, virtue as virtue. It is very ethical.”5 When I arrived at graduate school in 1999,1 found that my roommate was a die-hard pro­ wrestling fan. He would watch all of the regular TV broadcasts (each of the two major federations had two per week) and friends would send him the Pay-per-view specials our limited cable system did not carry. Wanting to be social, I joined him. For a semester, September to December, I watched, with a shifting group of about eight others, as much wrestling as I could, even going as far as attending a live taping of the show. Probably due to the thesis idea brewing in my mind, and my generally dispassionate nature, I never matched the same level of enthusiasm attributed to my great-grandmother, but my roommate sure did. Such wrestlers as Mick “Mankind” Foley, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and The Rock tossed themselves about the ring and risked life threatening injury while my roommate shouted and sighed in what I think could easily be described as a “hilarious frenzy.” The events my great-grandmother and I saw were ostensibly the same event-men crashing into each other in the center of a canvas ring-but, in actuality, they represented quite different phenomena. On the surface, they were similar but the traditional wrestling that thrilled previous generations and the contemporary wrestling that interested me represented distinct cultural entities. Wrestling, as I saw it performed over the course of several months, did not 3 Gerald Craven and Richard Mosely “Actors on the Canvas Stage: The Dramatic Conventions of Professional Wrestling.”Journal of Popular Culture 6.2 (1972): 332 4 Gerald Morton and George O’Brien.Wrestling to Rasslin: Ancient Sport to American Spectacle. (Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press. 1985): 130 5 A. J. Liebling. “A Reporter at Large: From Sarah Berhardt to Yukon Eric.”The New Yorker, 13 November 1954, 122.
Recommended publications
  • Jbl Vs Rey Mysterio Judgment Day
    Jbl Vs Rey Mysterio Judgment Day comfortinglycryogenic,Accident-prone Jefry and Grahamhebetating Indianise simulcast her pumping adaptations. rankly and andflews sixth, holoplankton. she twink Joelher smokesis well-formed: baaing shefinically. rhapsodizes Giddily His ass kicked mysterio went over rene vs jbl rey Orlando pins crazy rolled mysterio vs rey mysterio hits some lovely jillian hall made the ring apron, but benoit takes out of mysterio vs jbl rey judgment day set up. Bobby Lashley takes on Mr. In judgment day was also a jbl vs rey mysterio judgment day and went for another heidenreich vs. Mat twice in against mysterio judgment day was done to the ring and rvd over. Backstage, plus weekly new releases. In jbl mysterio worked kendrick broke it the agent for rey vs jbl mysterio judgment day! Roberto duran in rey vs jbl mysterio judgment day with mysterio? Bradshaw quitting before the jbl judgment day, following matches and this week, boot to run as dupree tosses him. Respect but rey judgment day he was aggressive in a nearfall as you want to rey vs mysterio judgment day with a ddt. Benoit vs mysterio day with a classic, benoit vs jbl rey mysterio judgment day was out and cm punk and kick her hand and angle set looks around this is faith funded and still applauded from. Superstars wear at Judgement Day! Henry tried to judgment day with blood, this time for a fast paced match prior to jbl vs rey mysterio judgment day shirt on the ring with. You can now begin enjoying the free features and content.
    [Show full text]
  • Here We Are at 500! the BRL’S 500 to Be Exact and What a Trip It Has Been
    el Fans, here we are at 500! The BRL’s 500 to be exact and what a trip it has been. Imagibash 15 was a huge success and the action got so intense that your old pal the Teamster had to get involved. The exclusive coverage of that ppv is in this very issue so I won’t spoil it and give away the ending like how the ship sinks in Titanic. The Johnny B. Cup is down to just four and here are the representatives from each of the IWAR’s promotions; • BRL Final: Sir Gunther Kinderwacht (last year’s winner) • CWL Final: Jane the Vixen Red (BRL, winner of 2017 Unknown Wrestler League) • IWL Final: Nasty Norman Krasner • NWL Final: Ricky Kyle In one semi-final, we will see bitter rivals Kinderwacht and Red face off while in the other the red-hot Ricky Kyle will face the, well, Nasty Normal Krasner. One of these four will win The self-professed “Greatest Tag team wrestler the 4th Johnny B Cup and the results will determine the breakdown of the prizes. ? in the world” debuted in the NWL in 2012 and taunt-filled promos earned him many enemies. The 26th Marano Memorial is also down to the final 5… FIVE? Well since the Suburban Hell His “Teamster Challenge” offered a prize to any Savages: Agent 26 & Punk Rock Mike and Badd Co: Rick Challenger & Rick Riley went to a NWL rookie who could capture a Tag Team title draw, we will have a rematch. The winner will advance to face Sledge and Hammer who won with him, but turned ugly when he kept blaming the CWL bracket.
    [Show full text]
  • Collision Course
    FINAL-1 Sat, Jul 7, 2018 6:10:55 PM Your Weekly Guide to TV Entertainment for the week of July 14 - 20, 2018 HARTNETT’S ALL SOFT CLOTH CAR WASH Collision $ 00 OFF 3ANY course CAR WASH! EXPIRES 7/31/18 BUMPER SPECIALISTSHartnett's Car Wash H1artnett x 5` Auto Body, Inc. COLLISION REPAIR SPECIALISTS & APPRAISERS MA R.S. #2313 R. ALAN HARTNETT LIC. #2037 DANA F. HARTNETT LIC. #9482 Ian Anthony Dale stars in 15 WATER STREET “Salvation” DANVERS (Exit 23, Rte. 128) TEL. (978) 774-2474 FAX (978) 750-4663 Open 7 Days Mon.-Fri. 8-7, Sat. 8-6, Sun. 8-4 ** Gift Certificates Available ** Choosing the right OLD FASHIONED SERVICE Attorney is no accident FREE REGISTRY SERVICE Free Consultation PERSONAL INJURYCLAIMS • Automobile Accident Victims • Work Accidents • Slip &Fall • Motorcycle &Pedestrian Accidents John Doyle Forlizzi• Wrongfu Lawl Death Office INSURANCEDoyle Insurance AGENCY • Dog Attacks • Injuries2 x to 3 Children Voted #1 1 x 3 With 35 years experience on the North Insurance Shore we have aproven record of recovery Agency No Fee Unless Successful While Grace (Jennifer Finnigan, “Tyrant”) and Harris (Ian Anthony Dale, “Hawaii Five- The LawOffice of 0”) work to maintain civility in the hangar, Liam (Charlie Row, “Red Band Society”) and STEPHEN M. FORLIZZI Darius (Santiago Cabrera, “Big Little Lies”) continue to fight both RE/SYST and the im- Auto • Homeowners pending galactic threat. Loyalties will be challenged as humanity sits on the brink of Business • Life Insurance 978.739.4898 Earth’s potential extinction. Learn if order can continue to suppress chaos when a new Harthorne Office Park •Suite 106 www.ForlizziLaw.com 978-777-6344 491 Maple Street, Danvers, MA 01923 [email protected] episode of “Salvation” airs Monday, July 16, on CBS.
    [Show full text]
  • Turning Pain Into Power: Traffi Cking Survivors’ Perspectives on Early Intervention Strategies
    Turning Pain into Power: Traffi cking Survivors’ Perspectives on Early Intervention Strategies Produced by the The contents of this publication may be adapted and reprinted with the following acknowledgement: “This material was adapted from the Family Violence Prevention Fund publication entitled Turning Pain into Power: Trafficking Survivors’ Perspectives on Early Intervention Strategies.” Family Violence Prevention Fund 383 Rhode Island Street, Suite 304 San Francisco, CA 94103-5133 TEL: 415.252.8900 TTY: 800.595.4889 FAX: 415.252.8991 www.endabuse.org [email protected] ©2005 Family Violence Prevention Fund. All Rights Reserved. Turning Pain into Power: Trafficking Survivors’ Perspectives on Early Intervention Strategies Family Violence Prevention Fund In Partnership with the World Childhood Foundation October 2005 AssessingTurning the PainNeeds into of Power:Trafficked Trafficking Young Women Survivors’ and Perspectives Children:Health ResponseWhat on Earlyis the Intervention RoleTrafficking of Health Strategies Report Care? Acknowledgments The Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF) is extremely grateful to all the people who made this project possible. In particular, the FVPF extends deep gratitude to all the survivors of human trafficking who courageously shared their experiences with us. We are honored to learn from their stories and hope that their experiences continue to inform and direct future public policy, intervention strategies, and prevention efforts. Likewise, we thank the advocates and activists who work tirelessly to empower these women and children to regain their lives completely. The Advisory Committee members who gave their input and expertise to this project were invaluable. Their pioneering work in the field of anti-human trafficking and dedication to helping survivors restore their well-being have enriched and informed this research from its inception.
    [Show full text]
  • Wrestling with Manhood – Abridged Version
    1 MEDIA EDUCATION F O U N D A T I O N 60 Masonic St. Northampton, MA 01060 | TEL 800.897.0089 | [email protected] | www.mediaed.org Wrestling With Manhood Boys, Bullying & Battering (Abridged Version) Transcript FANS: Welcome! Finally the Rock has come back to Springfield. You know, it’s good clean fun. Honestly, I wouldn’t let my son watch it. This is Austin’s middle finger. Too much violence. That and a lot of kids want to be like Stone Cold so they’ll drink beer. The female wrestlers, I think, are tremendous athletes. Big boobs and ripping each other’s clothes off. She’s a whore. Sometimes they get naked. The women are just their little playthings. The things they make them do, get on the ground and bark (barking sounds). That was pretty cool what they did to Trish. It’s promoting men beating on women. They want to come into the man’s world, they deserve to be treated just like a man. If a man is hitting a woman what is that showing the little kid? It’s not the WWF’s responsibility to raise them kids. It’s no worse than watching a movie or watching a soap opera or watching television. It’s entertainment. It’s entertainment. It’s just entertainment. I think it’s only entertainment, yeah. SUT JHALLY: You know it’s really difficult to get people to take professional wrestling seriously. Whenever I say that I’m working on this project on wrestling, people start smiling and laughing, almost as if to say “ how can you take this stuff so seriously.
    [Show full text]
  • Professional Wrestling, Sports Entertainment and the Liminal Experience in American Culture
    PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING, SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT AND THE LIMINAL EXPERIENCE IN AMERICAN CULTURE By AARON D, FEIGENBAUM A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2000 Copyright 2000 by Aaron D. Feigenbaum ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are many people who have helped me along the way, and I would like to express my appreciation to all of them. I would like to begin by thanking the members of my committee - Dr. Heather Gibson, Dr. Amitava Kumar, Dr. Norman Market, and Dr. Anthony Oliver-Smith - for all their help. I especially would like to thank my Chair, Dr. John Moore, for encouraging me to pursue my chosen field of study, guiding me in the right direction, and providing invaluable advice and encouragement. Others at the University of Florida who helped me in a variety of ways include Heather Hall, Jocelyn Shell, Jim Kunetz, and Farshid Safi. I would also like to thank Dr. Winnie Cooke and all my friends from the Teaching Center and Athletic Association for putting up with me the past few years. From the World Wrestling Federation, I would like to thank Vince McMahon, Jr., and Jim Byrne for taking the time to answer my questions and allowing me access to the World Wrestling Federation. A very special thanks goes out to Laura Bryson who provided so much help in many ways. I would like to thank Ed Garea and Paul MacArthur for answering my questions on both the history of professional wrestling and the current sports entertainment product.
    [Show full text]
  • AXS TV Schedule for Mon. July 1, 2019 to Sun. July 7, 2019 Monday
    AXS TV Schedule for Mon. July 1, 2019 to Sun. July 7, 2019 Monday July 1, 2019 4:00 PM ET / 1:00 PM PT 6:00 AM ET / 3:00 AM PT The Top Ten Revealed Classic Albums Guitar Rock Intros - Find out which epic Guitar Intros make our list as rock experts like Lita Ford, Black Sabbath: Paranoid - The second album by Black Sabbath, released in 1970, has long at- Steven Adler (GnR) and Vinnie Paul (Pantera) count us down! tained classic status. Paranoid not only changed the face of rock music forever, but also defined the sound and style of Heavy Metal more than any other record in rock history. 4:30 PM ET / 1:30 PM PT Cyndi Lauper 7:00 AM ET / 4:00 AM PT Punk princess Cyndi Lauper performs “Walk On By” and fun flashbacks like “Time After Time”, Rock Legends “True Colors” and “Girls Just Want To Have Fun”. Jimi Hendrix - Hailed by Rolling Stone as the greatest guitarist of all time, Jimi Hendrix was also one of the biggest cultural figures of the Sixties, a psychedelic voodoo child. Leading music 5:30 PM ET / 2:30 PM PT critics cast fresh light on the career of Jimi Hendrix. Rock Legends Blondie - The perfect punk pop band fronted by the most iconic woman in music. Always 7:30 AM ET / 4:30 AM PT creating, never following, always setting trends. After forming in the 1970s, Blondie continue to Rock & Roll Road Trip With Sammy Hagar make music and tour the world. Sunset Strip - Sammy heads to Sunset Blvd to reminisce at the Whisky A-Go-Go before visit- ing with former Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee at his house.
    [Show full text]
  • Grappling with Race: a Textual Analysis of Race Within the Wwe
    GRAPPLING WITH RACE: A TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF RACE WITHIN THE WWE BY MARQUIS J. JONES A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS Communication April 2019 Winston-Salem, North Carolina Approved By: Ronald L. Von Burg, PhD, Advisor Jarrod Atchison, PhD, Chair Eric K. Watts, PhD ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to thank my thesis advisor, Dr. Ron Von Burg of the Communication Graduate School at Wake Forest University. Dr. Von Burg’s office was always open whenever I needed guidance in the completion of this thesis. He consistently allowed this paper to be my own work, but steered me in the right direction whenever he thought I needed. I would also like to thank Dr. Jarrod Atchison and Dr. Eric Watts for serving as committed members of my Graduate Thesis Committee. I truly appreciate the time and energy that was devoted into helping me complete my thesis. Finally, I must express my very profound gratitude to my parents, Marcus and Erika Jones, for providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement throughout my years of sturdy and through the process of research and writing this thesis. This accomplishment would not have been possible without them. Thank you. I love you both very much. Thank you again, Marquis Jones iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………..iv Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………Pg. 1 Chapter 2: HISTORY OF WWE……………………………………………Pg. 15 Chapter 3: RACIALIZATION IN WWE…………………………………..Pg. 25 Chapter 4: CONCLUSION………………………………………………......Pg.
    [Show full text]
  • The Operational Aesthetic in the Performance of Professional Wrestling William P
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2005 The operational aesthetic in the performance of professional wrestling William P. Lipscomb III Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Communication Commons Recommended Citation Lipscomb III, William P., "The operational aesthetic in the performance of professional wrestling" (2005). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 3825. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/3825 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. THE OPERATIONAL AESTHETIC IN THE PERFORMANCE OF PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Communication Studies by William P. Lipscomb III B.S., University of Southern Mississippi, 1990 B.S., University of Southern Mississippi, 1991 M.S., University of Southern Mississippi, 1993 May 2005 ©Copyright 2005 William P. Lipscomb III All rights reserved ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am so thankful for the love and support of my entire family, especially my mom and dad. Both my parents were gifted educators, and without their wisdom, guidance, and encouragement none of this would have been possible. Special thanks to my brother John for all the positive vibes, and to Joy who was there for me during some very dark days.
    [Show full text]
  • PWTORCH NEWSLETTER • PAGE 2 Www
    ISSUE #1255 - MAY 26, 2012 TOP FIVE STORIES OF THE WEEK PPV ROUNDTABLE (1) Raw expanding to three hours on July 23 (2) Impact going live every week this summer (3) Flair parting ways with TNA, WWE bound WWE OVER THE LIMIT (4) Raw going “interactive” with weekly voting Staff Scores & Reviews (5) Laurinaitis pins Cena after Show turns heel Pat McNeill, columnist (6.5): The main problem with WWE Over The Limit? The main event went over the limit of what we’ll accept from WWE. You can argue that there was no reason to book John Cena against John Laurinaitis on a pay-per-view, and you’d be right. RawHEA eDLxINpE AaNnALYdSsIS to thrhoeurse, a nhd uosuaullyr tsher e’Js eunoulgyh re2de3eming But on top of that, there was no reason to book content to make it worth the investment. But Cena versus Laurinaitis to go as long as any other three hours? Three hours of lousy content is By Wade Keller, editor major pay-per-view match. And there was no enough that next time viewers might just tune in reason for Cena to drag the match out. It didn’t fit If you follow an industry long enough, you’re for a just an hour instead of the usual two and the storyline. And it made John Cena look like a bound to see some bad decisions being made. certainly not commit to all three. Or they might chump. or like The Stinger, when Big Show turned Some are worse than others, but it’s rare when pick their segments, watching the predictably heel for the umpteenth time and cost him the you think you might be seeing the Worst newsmaking segments at the start of each hour match.
    [Show full text]
  • Cubed Circle Newsletter 241 – Consistency Is Hard
    Cubed Circle Newsletter 241 – Consistency is Hard As many of probably noticed, we have been posting late and sporadically for the last month. This was, obviously, not our intention, but with the second semester eating into my free time, staying up to date is a tall order. Even without the newsletter itself seeing weekly publication the site has still remained up to date on a weekly basis, thanks primarily to co-author Ben Carass, as well as guest writers Paul Cooke and Leslie Lee III. But, the newsletter has survived for well over 241 weeks, and will hopefully thrive in the years to come. I have attempted to make provisions for publishing related tasks which should minimize the risk of major delays (obviously there will be some regular delays, as this late issue can attest), but we have some fail safes in place in order to keep this to a minimum. With all of this said, we have a great issue for everyone this week with Paul Cooke discussing the Pro-Wrestling Only Greatest Wrestler Ever project and his personal experience with the poll, Ben covers the news including tons of results from Japan and the Lesnar USADA violation, the Mixed Bag returns with a look at comedy wrestling, Ricochet/Ospreay, and a potential WWE match of the year -- plus Ben also looks at last Sunday's Battleground show and the first RAW of the brand split (a very good show). Also, for those unaware, we now have an official Twitter account @CubedCircleWres allowing the banger to unprecedented highs at @BenCarass and @RyanClingman.
    [Show full text]
  • Inspire Pro Wrestling Card Game
    INSPIRE PRO WRESTLING CARD GAME Executive Producer Tom Filsinger Character Art / Character Color Werner Mueck Art Direction Brandon Stroud Card Stats and Bios Zeke Gould, Ty States Card Proofing / Handbook Writing Todd Joerchel “Dirty” Andy Dalton Height: 5’ 7” Weight: 200 lbs. The Dirty South Inspire Pro’s third champion, “Dirty” Andy Dalton is no stranger to success. How he achieves that success, however, doesn’t always sit well with his opponents or Inspire Pro’s fans. Dalton’s disregard for the rules is matched only by his tenacity & desire to win at all costs. Signature Moves: Die Bitch – running knee strike PILEDRIVER – Dalton likes to finish opponents by dropping them on their head Lance Hoyt Height: 6’ 8” Weight: 270 lbs. Dallas, TX If you are looking for someone who has done it all in this professional wrestling business, look no further than “The American Psycho” Lance Hoyt, competing for near every major wrestling organizations and accumulating championships along the way. Hoyt tends to tower over all competition in Inspire Pro Wrestling, but has recently made the choice to direct his anger and aggression towards our own ring announcer Brandon Stroud. Signature Move: F’n Slam – sitout full nelson slam Texas Tower Bomb – leg trap one shoulder powerbomb TEXAS TORNADO – fireman's carry facebuster DARK DAYS – snap inverted DDT BLACKOUT – inverted crucifix powerbomb Ricky Starks Height: 6’ 0” Weight: 195 lbs. New Orleans, LA Full of energy and tons of bravado, Ricky Starks has proven himself to be the future of Texas independent wrestling. Don’t be fooled. Starks does not just let his words do the talking, as he is highly skilled when he steps through the ropes.
    [Show full text]